Amercom ACCS12 German Sd. Kfz. 181 PzKpfw VI Tiger I Ausf. E Heavy Tank - schwere Panzer Abteilung 508, Italy, 1943 "The gun and armor of the Tiger were superb, making it in many ways the most formidable tank in service. Even so, it was poor in maneuver, it was slow, and its turret was a slow traverser in action. It was a tank which was, at its best, immobile in ambush, when its killing power was very frightening."- Douglas Orgill, "German Armor"

The German Waffenamt issued an order to design the VK4501(H) (as the PzKpfw VI Ausf. E was then known) in May 1941, just one month prior to the commencement of Operation Barbarossa. Interestingly, Henschel und Sohn of Kassel was charged with building the heavily armored chassis while Krupp, by far the largest munitionwerks in Germany, was given the task of developing the turret. The PzKpfw VI Ausfuhrung E (type E) was one of the first German tanks to feature a torsion bar with eight interleaved wheels, which was designed to support the weight of the mammoth 57-ton tank. The Ausf. E mounted a huge 8.8cm KwK36 L/56 cannon and featured two MG34 machine guns for close support against enemy infantry. By war's end, 1,354 vehicles had been produced, some rolling off the Wegmann assembly line.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a German Sd. Kfz. 181 PzKpfw VI Tiger I Ausf. E heavy tank that was attached to schwere Panzer Abteilung 508, then deployed to Italy during 1943.
Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Length: 4-1/2 inches
Width: 2-1/4 inches

Release Date: April 2014

Historical Account: "Up and Down the Boot" - Schwere Panzer Abteilung 508 was formed in August 1943 and immediately sent to Italy. It engaged the Allies at Anzio and maintained a tenacious defense while withdrawing up the Italian peninsula, suffering heavy casualties in the process. It was eventually disbanded in February 1945.

In early February 1944, the battalion was sent to oppose Allied landings at Anzio. Transportation by rail ended at Ficulle in Italy, far from the enemy beachhead. Because Allied air superiority made further rail transport difficult, the battalion drove the remaining distance, via Rome. One Tiger caught fire on route and was destroyed in an explosion. Sixty percent of the Tigers suffered mechanical breakdown on the 200-kilometre (120 mi) journey through the narrow, winding, mountainous roads. By 14 February, the first company deployed piecemeal in the Anzio region near Aprilia (known as The Factory), as the second company arrived in Rome.